Agathocles of Syracuse in The Prince

Who is Agathocles of Syracuse?

Agathocles of Syracuse is presented as a man of humble origins who climbs the military ranks and then seizes princely power by conspiring and committing a brutal massacre of Syracuse’s senators and wealthy men during a public assembly. After taking the city, he defends it effectively against Carthaginian attacks and forces his enemies to accept terms, demonstrating military skill and courage. Despite these successes, his rise is defined by cruelty, deceit, and a willingness to employ extreme violence to obtain and secure power. Machiavelli uses Agathocles to show how a private citizen can become prince through wicked means, yet also to argue that such methods win dominion without genuine glory or moral praise. Agathocles wants power and security for himself and attains them, but he does so in a way that Machiavelli treats as cautionary about the difference between effectiveness and honorable reputation.

In the book: In The Prince, Agathocles of Syracuse is presented as a case study of a ruler who rises from humble origins to princely power through ruthlessness and calculated violence. Machiavelli uses him to explore the idea that effectiveness in seizing and securing a state can be achieved by fear and cruelty, even if such methods deny the ruler lasting glory or moral praise. Agathocles exemplifies the distinction between gaining power and gaining honor, and illustrates the concept of “cruelties well used.”

Personality

Ruthless

He massacres Syracuse’s senators and wealthy men at an assembly to seize the princedom.

Calculating

He conspires with outside forces and times a public slaughter to remove opposition and take control.

Militarily able

He defends Syracuse against Carthaginian attacks and forces them to accept terms.

Unhonored

Machiavelli insists his cruelty and lack of faith prevent his actions from earning genuine glory.

Character arc

Agathocles appears first as a low-born man who rises through military service and ambition. He moves from soldier to conspirator, deliberately choosing mass violence at a civic assembly as the mechanism to eliminate rivals and seize the princedom. Once in power, he consolidates his rule by defending Syracuse against its external enemies, proving effective in the practical tasks of ruling and warfare. However, his arc does not culminate in fame or admiration: Machiavelli frames his ascent as morally and reputationally bankrupt. Rather than evolving toward legitimization or popular acclaim, Agathocles remains defined by the wicked means he employs; his success secures dominion but not honor. By the end of his appearance in Machiavelli’s discussion, he stands as a static exemplar of the principle that cruelty can achieve power but not enduring glory or moral approval.

Relationships

• Cesare Borgia Used as a contrasting example in the same chapter: Agathocles’s methods win power but not the kind of regard Machiavelli attributes to more calculated princes like Cesare Borgia.
• Florentines Serves as a negative example for the book’s implied Florentine audience, illustrating what seizing power by wickedness achieves and what it costs.

Why Agathocles of Syracuse matters

Agathocles embodies Machiavelli’s exploration of the split between effective rule and honorable reputation. He proves that decisive cruelty can secure a state and repel external threats, but his story also demonstrates Machiavelli’s warning that such methods produce power without lasting glory or moral praise. As an exemplar of ‘cruelties well used’ taken to an extreme, Agathocles sharpens the book’s practical inquiries about when violence is politically useful and when it undermines a prince’s claim to legitimacy.

Chapters with Agathocles of Syracuse

• Chapter 8

More The Prince characters

• Cesare BorgiaMajor character
• Pope Alexander VIMajor character
• Francesco SforzaMajor character
• Ferdinand II of AragonMajor character
• AAlexander the GreatMajor character
• FFlorentinesMajor character
• Lorenzo de' MediciMajor character
• Louis XIIMajor character